Published: · Updated: by Kara · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads
This isn’t your normal cinnamon cake, we’re pumping up the flavor and moistness in this one and it seriously tastes like a cinnamon roll. Have this Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake as a rich breakfast coffee cake, or have it for dessert. It’s super moist, thanks to the help of sour cream, then it’s covered in a smooth cinnamon glaze.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
Oh how I love cinnamon. I add it to just about anything. I’m not just talking about cinnamon rolls and pies, I mean stuff like cereal or ice cream. Have you tried it on ice cream? You should, it’s amazing. Anyway, to me, cinnamon just makes anything better.
This Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake has got some major cinnamon swirl going on.
I couldn’t decide whether to call this one cinnamon swirl sour cream cake, or actually just cinnamon roll cake because it seriously tastes like a straight up cinnamon roll.
This cake comes out of the oven with a river of cinnamon running throughout the middle. It gives you a good mouthful of brown sugar cinnamony goodness.
And if you want even more swirl than my cake has, feel free to swirl your batter a little more. You just want to be careful that you don’t go crazy, or you’ll lose the swirl effect.
Now, any time is a good time to have cinnamon cake, but it’s especially good during the holidays, because seriously this cake tastes like a mouthful of Christmas.
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LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
Cinnamon: Ok, obviously this cinnamon cake’s got cinnamon in it. No secret there, but we’ll be adding cinnamon to the batter, for the swirl and into the glaze. Nope we’re not skimping on the cinnamon.
Oh and I love using Saigon Cinnamon. It’s a really nice cinnamon, so if you can get it, definitely use it.
Brown Sugar: The brown sugar is for the cinnamon swirl. Don’t skip this part…it really makes the cake.
Sour Cream: I love sour cream in cakes. It makes them SO moist and gives them such good flavor.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
The mixing method for this cake is the creaming method. You’ll be whipping the butter and sugar until fluffy and then adding in the dry and liquid ingredients alternately. Easy Peasy.
TIPS & FAQS FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL CAKE:
Make sure to grease and flour your bundt pan really well.
This cake is really moist and will stick to the pan if you don’t.
Do I really need to have room temperature butter? Can I just microwave it?
Yes room temperature butter matters. You don’t want to microwave it because it will not warm the butter evenly. Room temperature butter mixes better with the other ingredients.
Should I use dark or light brown sugar?
Either one is perfectly fine.
Can I substitute the sour cream?
You’ll get best results using sour cream, but if you can’t get it, you can use yogurt instead. Try and use the full fat version and not the light yogurt though.
How to I swirl the cinnamon?
I just took a knife and swirled a few times around the cake once the batter was added to the pan. If you even more of a swirl, then use your knife and drag it around the batter a few more times. Be careful not to swirl it too much though or you’ll lose the swirl and it’ll just blend in too much with the cake batter.
Ok, now let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake
This Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake has got some major cinnamon swirl going on. This one’s super moist, thanks to the help of sour cream, then it’s covered in a smooth cinnamon glaze.
4.67 from 6 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cinnamon swirl cake
Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 14 servings
Calories: 536kcal
Author: Kara @I Scream for Buttercream
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (for the main cake batter)
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon (for the cinnamon swirl)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (for the cinnamon swirl)
- 1 ¾ cups regular sugar (for the main cake batter)
- 1 cup butter (room temp)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Cinnamon Glaze:
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk or cream (can add 1-2 tablespoon more)
US Customary – Metric
Have questions?Check out the Tips & FAQ section or the video in the post!
Instructions
For the cake:
Grease and flour a bundt pan well. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Whisk well and set aside.
In another bowl, add the sour cream, milk and vanilla. Whisk well and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and 1 ¾ cup of regular sugar. Mix on medium and then on medium high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs two at a time and mix on medium just until combined.
Alternately add in the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture. (Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add in ½ the sour cream mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in another ⅓ of the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in the last of the sour cream mixture, mixing only until combined, then the last of the flour mixture and mix until well combined.) You only want to mix until well combined, about 20 seconds. Mixing for several minutes is too long.
In another bowl, mix together ½ cup packed brown sugar and 2 tablespoon of cinnamon and set aside.
Add a little less than ½ of the cake batter to your pan and smooth.
Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon mixture over the batter.
Add the remaining cake batter into the pan and smooth.
Take a knife and gently swirl the batter around. Just go around a couple of times. If you want more of a swirl, go ahead and swirl a bit more. You just want to be careful not to swirl too much or it’ll mix completely together and you will lose the swirl effect.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 55 minutes to 1 hour.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan and onto a rack or a cake plate and cool completely.
For the glaze:
In a mixing bowl, add in the confectioners sugar, cinnamon, extract and milk. Mix well until smooth. Check the consistency. If it’s too thick for drizzling, add more milk or cream by tablespoon until desired consistency.
Drizzle over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
This cake does not need to be kept in the refrigerator, unless you’ve added perishable frosting.
Nutritional values are an estimate.
Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post.
This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
Calories: 536kcal | Carbohydrates: 90g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 240mg | Potassium: 195mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 67g | Vitamin A: 595IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 1.7mg
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DisclaimersTo see food safety, allergy & nutrition disclaimers, go here: Disclaimers
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If you make this one, let me know what you think! I hope you love it as much as I do. 🙂
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Supplies Used for the Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake:
Other recipes you might like:
- Cinnamon Buttercream
- Brown Sugar Spice Cake
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